More than a month, really?! weeks 17-? (I've nearly lost count - wish I could say the same of lbs gone!)

Based on the data (see table below), I'm pretty much exactly where I was 7 weeks ago... How depressing. I was making gains, could feel the difference in my clothes and energy levels, and then I stumbled and fell off the workout wagon for a bit.

I joined the local Women's Center and signed up for two weekly fitness classes that are BUSTING my chops! They are amazingly hard workouts and I love them. What's even better, they provide child care services while you work out, for free!! The Monday class is about 20 min straight cardio (HARD) and 20 min step aerobics (also HARD) followed by 15 min of strength training with resistance bands and free weights (do I need to say it again? HARD!). I have yet to complete the entire routine without taking a break. At one point during the step routine the instructor said "8 more" and at that point I looked at my friend and our faces said it all-> "You're KIDDING?!" My goal is to be able to keep up with the instructor by the end of this session. She is truly FIT, practically zero body fat, you can see the muscles in her legs and arms - what an inspiration!

Friday's class is equally intense. A different instructor who is also inspiring to look at. This class is all about strength training using bands and free weights as well. A full hour of upper, lower and core exercises that leave my muscles screaming and sweat pouring. EA Sports Active 2 doesn't hold a candle to either of these workouts! The thing I like most is these are full 1hr classes, no breaks or pauses unless your wiping your brow or getting your step/floor mat from the corner of the gym. They are a SOLID 60 min of activity. My biggest complaint about Wii Fit Plus and EA Sports Active are the long pauses between exercises. I wish there was a way to get around the long load times... The Biggest Loser is much faster. (BTW - my hubby found the BL game a couple weeks ago! My boys had put it 'in jail' as I suspected, in our wooden magazine rack...)

This is my first time going to an aerobics class since I don't remember when - and my first experience with step aerobics. I was wise the first week to use just the step, without risers. Then in the Friday toning class, we used them for tricep dips, etc. and I discovered that no risers didn't work well for that class. So I made the mistake on the following Monday's class of thinking I had "graduated" to the next level with the step and added one level of risers... Who knew that 1.5 inches would make such a difference?? UGH! I could barely walk the next day! The following Monday I smartened up, used no risers, but didn't make sure my step had rubber 'feet' and fell flat on my ass the first step up as my step went sliding out from under me... Oh what a sight to behold - Corinna and the step!!

I'm still doing the EA Sports Active 9 week program, but as mentioned, I stumbled around the 3 week mark - the program requires a minimum of 4 routines per week and at around the 3 week mark the Women's Center classes started, followed the next week by the start of my winter soccer league. Needless to say, I was starting to feel a bit of burnout, trying to fit all 4 routines in addition to the other 3 activities. The game allows you to enter when you do activities outside of it, but unfortunately they don't count towards your 4 routines... The game now thinks I should be nearing the end of 9 weeks, while I just completed the first routine from phase 2 (weeks 4-6) on Sunday. At least it lets me pick up the routine where I left off. I'll keep it up, but at my pace, where I'm doing 2 per week. A girl's gotta have a night off here and there, right?

Oh, and I almost forgot! I ran a 5km race in September! I'll write about that in my next post. It's a "Good news" story. :-)

Yikes, I'm so far behind, this week's entry requires a table!

Week #	17	18	19	20	21	23*
BMI	28.37	28.17	28.13	28.06	27.96	28.41
Weight	82.0kg	81.4kg	81.3kg	81.1kg	80.8kg	82.1kg

*(forgot to weigh in week 22)

Here we go again... weeks 15 & 16 updates

So, yesterday I started, yet again, a new Wii workout regime. Broke down and purchased the EA Sports Active2. Still have yet to find the Biggest Loser game disk & case ("yeah, right - you just wanted an excuse to buy a new game" my husband teases...)

Got my profile set up and since it was a 'rest day', I got to chose the workout I wanted to do (I hadn't worked out in many days, so I didn't want to rest!) Picked the soccer training workout - easy level.  So far, I haven't been overly impressed. This is supposedly rated the best fitness game for Wii, but there are a few things I would like to see improved. Compared to Wii Fit Plus, it's about the same. Main advantage being Active2 comes with body motion sensors for left arm and right leg, and built-in heart-rate monitor.  Those are very cool to have, alongside the Wii remote, means no more using the nunchuck - very nice!  Also includes a medium strength resistance band.  What bothers me is the time it takes to load each new exercise in the routine... Feels like forever as my heart rate is visibly dropping. Plus the calories burned during the intervals aren't counted (I wore my own HRM to see how it compared - beats were accurate, but calories were vastly different - but in keeping with the total time difference.  e.g. game logged my workout as 32 min, where my HRM watch recorded 52min, from start to finish. That means there was 20min of wasted time between exercises!  According to my watch, I burned an additional 130 calories in those 20min!! Granted all the exercises were new, so I had to sit through the 'how-to' for most, but still!

The other complaint - the game encourages you to log into their website and track stats, etc., but since yesterday, I have only been able to see part of the user journal section on the website before it crashes! They are supposed to be switching to a new service soon, so maybe that's why.  And, they encourage you to set up or join groups - but don't allow you to search existing groups, you have to already know the group name and have a password. Not very 'inviting'!

Another positive - this game incorporates resistance bands and/or free-weights. I am already feeling a difference in my legs and triceps today from that one workout!

So, I'm going to continue with this game because of the heart-rate monitor and it has pre-determined routines, scheduled for a 9 week program, and daily check-lists, etc. to keep me motivated, much like the BL game, but boy do I miss BL's nearly 'seamless' workout routines!

weeks 15 & 16 (unchanged between the two weeks)
BMI: 28.30
wieght: 81.8kg

Yikes - that's all I have to say... weeks 13 & 14 weigh in

OK, so today was my first attempt to do a "Biggest Loser" for Wii workout in weeks and wouldn't you know it, I can't find the disk or case anywhere!  Grrrr....  It was too late to wake my boys to ask which one hid it somewhere, as much as I was tempted...  So I compromised and played some Dance, Dance Revolution in 'workout mode' followed by some Wii Fit Plus routine.  Which reminded me why I prefer the Biggest Loser workouts! Has anyone out there used the EA Sports Active for Wii? It looks really good and might be my next Wii purchase.

A quick shout-out to my friend and new MyFitnessPal buddy, Rhonda! We can do this girl!  Anyone else want to be my friend on MyFitnessPal? The more the merrier! Look me up as CorinnaRake.

Here are last weeks' numbers - not looking good at all! Time to start tracking my food and exercising again!

Week 13:
BMI: 28.03
weight: 81.0kg

Week 14:
BMI: 28.51
weight: 82.4kg

Time, time, everything takes time! weeks 11 & 12 weigh in

One thing I'm realizing that all this food tracking and exercising takes T I M E!! And like the rest of you, I already had precious little extra of it...  when I have competing priorities, I have been focusing on this part of my journey (i.e. weight control) as much as possible. Something is gotta give though, and lately that 'something' has been my work - probably not a good thing since it's my only source of income! The advantage/disadvantage of working for myself - I can pick and choose where to spend my time, to a degree, until it becomes procrastinating...  Uh oh, there's that "P" word!

I love what I do, and that I have this flexibility to work as much or as little as I want - but lately it's all I can do to check my email in the evening after doing a workout and entering my daily food intake... Frankly, it's exhausting. I can't get much done during the day since my boys are home full-time, so by the time they're in bed, workout is complete and MyFitPal has been updated, I'm wiped!  Isn't all this exercise supposed to GIVE me energy? Maybe my food isn't fueling me properly... Hmmm, will have to take a closer look. Or perhaps it's the fact that it's already after midnight as I'm typing this?  Ya think?

Good night all!

Week 11 update:
BMI: 28.44
weight: 82.2kg (yikes! not good) 

Week 12 update:
BMI: 28.06
weight: 81.1kg (need to get back on track with workouts and eating better)

What a difference tracking makes! weeks 9 & 10 weigh in

I can feel the weight leaving my body, and it's mostly because I'm paying CLOSE attention to what I'm putting in my mouth. Once again, and probably for the most accurate time, I'm logging my food intake. As mentioned in my last post, I'm using a free, online tool at www.MyFitnessPal.com to enter my daily eating and exercise amounts. And, WOW, what a difference - I lost 4 lbs in one week!  The biggest difference in my food intake is my sugar. I've begun regularly using Stevia (see my post about this wonderful, natural sweetener) in my tea and eating spoon-sized Shredded Wheat for breakfast - it's one of the few cereals that doesn't have any sugar. This way I don't start my day with my sugar allotment in a negative position!

Armed with the knowledge and confidence that I CAN lose weight on my own, I made an appointment with Herbal Magic to see if their program would be a good fit for my needs. It's a shame they won't let you benefit from their one-on-one counsel and branded journal without forcing you to buy and consume their supplements.  I suppose that's how they make a profit, but I was truly disappointed that it was going to cost me approximately $100 per lb lost*  - and that was almost all in supplements.  I can see how their program is beneficial to people with a lot of weight to lose, who need to develop a whole new mindset around eating, and have good-paying jobs!  I'm glad I spoke to them though, now I can tell my husband how much $$ I'm saving by tackling this weight, head-on (or hip-on!), on my own - with his support.  :-)

(*my calculation based on my personal goal divided by total fees, that is not their payment model)


Week 9 update:
BMI: 27.75
weight: 80.2kg (wowsers! broke another kg threshold this week - below 81kgs now!! In fact, this is the exact weight I was the first day I did the WiiFitPlus Body Test, Christmas day, 2010)

Week 10 update:
BMI: 27.82
weight: 80.4kg (not bad considering we were on holiday this week and I wasn't tracking my food intake)

Bob Harper is making me sweat! - weeks 7 & 8 weigh in

I've never actually watched a full season of The Biggest Loser, but I like the concept and picked up a previously-viewed copy of the game for Wii from Blockbuster (seriously, who would rent the game for a week?). I have to say, I'm enjoying the workouts - they really make me sweat, and the part I like most is that the 'game' automatically schedules the workouts into the calendar. So all I have to do is check in each day and see what workout, if any, I'm scheduled for. Then I just have to click on the workout and it sends me right into it!  Couldn't be easier. Wii Fit Plus has pre-determined workouts too, but I found there was a lot of switching the remote from hand to pocket, etc. which kept interrupting the flow. TBL workouts only change the remote when necessary, and actually accounts for which hand/pocket it is in for the next routine. Certainly has a better flow.

Making progress with my diet. I signed up with MyFitnessPal.com and have started using their diet diary function. What I like about it is there is a huge database of nutritional information for all kinds of foods - that OTHER PEOPLE have already gone through the trouble of entering! It's great. Today, for example, I had a Danone Creamy yogurt - in there. I had a Caramilk ice cream cone - yep, it's in there. Tim Horton's tea and coffee, various combinations - although that one I had to create my own combination, but there were all kinds already there!  And the other great thing, once you create or use an item, it is added to your 'favourite's list' so then it's super easy to add to another day's entry.  Love it!

Week 7 update:
BMI: 28.55
weight: 82.5kg

Week 8 update:
BMI: 28.30
weight: 81.8kg (wahoo, broke the 82kg mark!!)

Happy Canada Day!!

start of a great day - but not because of this week's weigh in!

It's my 11th anniversary today - hard to believe 11 years ago I walked down the isle to find my handsome husband waiting for me!  It was a perfect day!  Today is a stark contrast, but perfect in it's own way. For once, I didn't feel exhausted when I woke up to get my boy ready for school. It's warm enough in the morning to wear shorts already - love that! - and we were actually early enough to walk - not run - to the bus stop together. We had a fun game of I SPY on our way.

Today was the first day in weeks that I didn't feel the need to go right back to bed after sending DS#1 off to school. DS#2 usually wakes up 30-45min later, and we have a nice little snuggle in my bed before starting our day. Lately, that has consisted of me putting on his favourite TV shows and crawling back to bed for more sleep. What is wrong with that picture! This morning, since I was already up when DS#2 woke up, we had our little snuggle on the sofa before he asked for TV.  Some things never change. :-) But this time I'm productively writing this post and planning my day, instead of wasting my morning in bed.

Thinking back to my wedding, I recall how I had worried about my weight leading up to the big day. I had even joined the local Goodlife gym - only to have the membership go to waste as I hardly ever went.  At that time, my weight was about 25lbs less than now, and not much different than it had been most of my adult life. I've only felt really slim two different times in my life - once before I became pregnant with my first DS, and about 6 weeks after he was born. I was amazed at how easy the weight came back off.  Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way for long and my body crept back to it's 'comfortable' weight at around 160lbs.  Right now I'd be happy to be that weight again!

Week 6 update - still no diary, but daily logging of calorie intake as of Monday, LOTS of exercise!
BMI: 28.86
Weight: 83.0 kg

Looking forward to my parents arrival today for the Father's Day weekend. It also means I'll get to go on a date with my ever more handsome husband for our anniversary!  :-) 

Oh look, something shiny! (and I don't mean the Stanley Cup)

F O C U S - something I'm greatly lacking at the moment... Every time it seems like I've found the 'right' method to use to support me in my journey, I find something else!  There are so many options, some free, some under $100, some under $1,000 and still others that are financially out-of-reach!  Those last ones make it easy to just walk away. The other ones, which are much more plentiful, clutter my head with too many choices!  How will I know I've made the right choice?  And right now, I'm considering using more than one in combination...  Then I feel I'm making this much more complicated than it needs to be, and risk giving up altogether!

Tonight, as I was entering my calorie intake for today in the Biggest Loser for Wii game, I had to look up the calorie content of an Keith's Pale Ale (totally blew my calorie count, but it was GAME 7 of the Stanley Cup! How could I not have a couple beers? The pizza on the table found it's way into my mouth, too...)  The website that gave me the info I was looking for (since, as I was shocked to discover, there is no nutritional label on the beer case, or bottle!) ended up being www.MyFitnessPal.com - an online community where you can enter your personal details, your goal weight and per week loss. It then sets you up with the tools to record your dietary intake, exercise and other neat stuff.  Perfect supplement to the Biggest Loser program I started this week. (already had the game - let's get this thing going already!)

Then I thought "surely there must be a website that will help me with my meal planning?" - my ultimate need! And that's when I realized I'm distracted, AGAIN!  Look, something shiny!  What was I saying?

Starting to notice small changes - week 5 weigh in - looks promising!

I've noticed a shift in my thought pattern, and in how my clothes are fitting, this week. I'm encouraged because my clothes aren't feeling AS tight - I was expecting to see a drop in my weight on the Wii this morning, and wasn't disappointed.  :-) (see below)


Part of the shift is the realization that I'm really, truly going to HAVE to take action to achieve my goal. There's no way around that. I've been doing good things with my activity level and I know that's not enough. And I know as much as I would like to be able to spend hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars to get to my goal by summer's end, I simply don't have that kind of money available. 


Today I started filling out our family calendar for the summer. We've joined a local pool (the thing to do in Montreal's West Island apparently - I think it will be great fun!) and expect to be there most days, as well as some day camps and library programs for my boys, will keep us hoping during the days. Add in my two sports teams and masters swimming at the pool in the evenings - I'm going to need a personal secretary/housekeeper/chef/grounds keeper to keep up, not a personal trainer!  Oh yeah, that's just part of the job description of "stay-at-home mom"!  Too bad I can't charge $60+/hr, plus bi-weekly membership fees! ;-)


Week 5 update - no food diary, lots of activity, more conscious consumption:
BMI: 28.58  
Weight: 82.6kg  (going in the right direction at least)

It doesn't have to cost THAT much, does it?

Went to Gold's Gym yesterday, like I said I would.... Well, I didn't quite pass out, my reaction was more like "you've got to be kidding me!". To have a chance of reaching my 'aggressive' goal of 35lbs by end of summer, I would have to commit to 3 training sessions per week, for 12 weeks. Even at the bulk price (when buying 36 sessions), it was going to be well over $2K, PLUS the gym membership, which is not astronomical, but I could get a family YMCA membership for about the same.

So, with that idea out the door, I decided to inquire at the local Herbal Magic outlet.  Their program is pricey too, but I think there's more flexibility with products. The base fees include 3 weekly 'check-in's with a personal coach and nutritionist - a BIG plus for me as they will work with me to create a meal plan - something not included with the personal trainer at Gold's.  The 3 weekly check-ins, from what I understand, are to help stay accountable and to have the opportunity to 'get it off your chest', whatever 'IT' may be, to help reduce stress, etc and improve your success.  I haven't signed up for my initial consultation yet. I would be very interested to hear if any of you have had any experience with Herbal Magic? And/or Weight Watchers? I might check them out next, but their outlet is not as convenient.

Something I just thought of - I should check out what the local YMCA has to offer for training - they have child care available too, which was yet another cost with Gold's! Their location is not as convenient as Gold's, but if it costs hundreds less, would be worth the extra 10min drive.

You know I'm serious when...

... I'm willing to spend money to make my goal happen! Today I decided I will go to my local gym (happens to be a new Gold's Gym) and talk to them about hiring a personal trainer and nutritionist for 30 days. I want to see what that would cost me and if they can support me in reaching my goal of losing 20lbs in 30 days. I figure this way is best because they can incorporate the activities and schedules that I already have in my life, as well as account for my food preferences when working out the diet. Sure, I expect it will cost more than the generic Running Room clinic or online weight loss program, but the closer it fits my lifestyle, the more likely I will be able to stick to it and have the results I want. The added bonus is IF they help me get the results, then I'll continue with them to get to my ultimate, final goal of an additional 15lbs off by the end of the summer.

The way I see it, I'd rather spend money on getting my body back - this is just a temporary state for me, which is why I believe I'll be able to shed the first 15lbs fairly easily with the right direction - than spending my money on a new wardrobe!  First thing Monday morning I'm heading to the gym - if I don't pass out from the cost, expect to read about an exciting new adventure I'm about to embark on.

Did I mention I did a 5km race?

That's me on the right

Last weekend (May 28th) I ran my second 5km race of the season. This one was in Ottawa, my old stomping grounds for about 3 years and home to many of my friends and some family. We went to my Aunt's for lunch, and for convenience since she lives walking distance from the start line (nothing like using your family - LOL!). The drive up had been cool and overcast, so I decided to wear my long-sleeve shirt to run. By the time I walked to the race area, the sun was out and it was hot!  I couldn't believe I was sweating from walking and BEFORE trying to jam my way into the 9,000+ crowd of runners filling the street! For once in my life I was early and had to stand there, in the blazing sun, no sunglasses, long-sleeve dark shirt, squeezed like I was in the middle of the dance floor at a popular club on a Saturday night. At least in the club you can assume most are at least drinking age and around my average height - but out here, there were children and teens and couples and super short people and tall people - pretty much every age, shape and height could be found in this crowd, all huddled together on Elgin St.

I'm happy to report that I completed the 5km, in this crowd, with long-sleeves, in the blazing sun, in 32:05 min! When there are so many people around, it's hard to find and keep your pace, so I'm happy to have improved on my previous 5km from May 1st of 32:45. I crossed the line 97th/513 in my category (age/sex) and my chip time put me in the top 26% (133/513)! :-) I had hoped to finish under 30min, but improvement is good.

I think my next race challenge will be in Toronto in the fall. I'm debating between the 1/2 marathon distance (21km) or going for a personal best in the 5km event. There isn't a 10km event, which is too bad because that would have been my first choice.

It doesn't take much...

...to throw me off track!!  It has been 3 weeks, 3 WEEKS!, since my last update.  Would you believe what kept me from publishing my day 8 weigh in and diet diary was a glitch with Blogger!?  Every night after I posted the day's diet diary, I would open a new post to start filling in first thing the next day. It was my system and seemed to be working for me, for the first week anyway...  Then day 8 came and Blogger had crashed, lost my day 7 entry and I couldn't even log in to start over for day 8. That was it - that's all it took - and I've been eating poorly and not keeping track ever since!  yikes!

Well, not completely, I did still manage to do my weekly BMI and weigh in on the Wii (at least that didn't crash on me!)

Here are the stats for the past four weeks (including the starting point for comparison):

week 0 - the starting point:
BMI: 28.86  Weight: 83.4kg

week 1 - after one week of logging my food intake:
BMI: 29.00 Weight: 83.8kg  (UGH)

week 2 - no more food diary:
BMI: 28.82  Weight: 83.3kg (went down a bit!)

week 3 - still no food diary, but more activity:
BMI: 28.72  Weight: 83.0kg (went down a bit more)

week 4 - no food diary, lots of activity, no control:
BMI: 28.82  Weight: 83.3kg  (just shy of where I started...)

So, I may as well begin again...  I came across a program that I'm debating on whether I should purchase it or not. It's called Xtreme Fat Loss Diet - Rapid Fat Loss System and there's a full money-back guarantee if you follow the plan and don't lose 25lbs in 25 days. It costs about the same as the Running Room clinics, but it includes a full meal plan for the 25 days, as well as exercises and log book, etc.  Sounds like a pretty good system. I know what you're thinking, I hate falling for those online 'sales letters' that make you read for 10 screens before they show you the 'BUY NOW' button...  I'm going to do a search and see if anyone has blogged/commented about it online.  I'm pretty serious about shedding this weight and I feel ready to make that 25 day commitment!


I'll let you know what I decide. If you've heard about, read about or even tried this system yourself, PLEASE let me know what you think!  If I get started in the next couple days, I could be looking fab by Canada Day.  :-)

Diet Diary day 7

Food diary:

bowl Life cereal w/ milk

sm. oatmeal chocolate chip muffin

lg. tea

sm. oatmeal chocolate chip muffin

2 slices multi-grain toast w/ butter

2 hard-boiled eggs

baby carrots

lg. tea

apple

chocolate dip chocolate chip granola bar

lg. tea

2 pieces batter fish w/ tartar sauce

harvest chicken rice Side Kicks 

brussel sprouts

lg peach juice (1/2 juice, 1/2 water)

apple caramel pie

vanilla ice cream

Batter, batter... SWING! & Diet Diary day 6

First ball game of the season was tonight - met my new team and felt right at home!  They like to make fun of each other just as much as my last team...  :-)  We won 29-10, which always help lighten the mood overall. One thing that was really neat and unique about this team, they slap hands with everyone on the team after EACH inning!  After the first inning, as we were all coming in off the field, I was a bit overwhelmed as they each came over to slap my hand. At first I thought it was because I just made a couple great plays - but then I quickly realized they do it after every inning...  So much for feeling special on my first game! Ha ha ha!

We went for drinks after and they were really welcoming and easy to get to know.  I was recommended to this team from one of my teammates in Halifax last year - he moved from Montreal and had played with this team for a few years. Thanks for the recommendation Tyler!  Looking forward to playing with them, although I'll likely have to cut back on the post-game beers if I really want to make a difference in my waistline this summer! It's all good!

Food Diary:
bowl frosted mini-wheats w/ milk
XL TH tea

lg. peach juice
65g milk chocolate bar

2x tuna melt w/ cheddar cheese
3 baby carrots
XL TH tea

mini banana muffin

1/2 chicken kabob

pitcher of beer (over 2hrs and I wasn't driving)
2x corn on cob w/ butter

water

Diet Diary day 5

Food Diary:
bowl mini-wheats w/ milk
XL TH tea

2 grilled cheese sandwiches
6 baby carrots
lg chai black tea
chunk of chocolate truck

apple
water

spaghetti w/ meat sauce, parmesan cheese
broccoli
3 pieces garlic bread
water

sm. bowl Oh Henry ice cream

Happy Mother's Day! & Diet Diary day 4

Hope all the moms reading this had a fabulous day with your family. It's the hardest job in the world, but so worth the rewards!  Love my boys more than words can express!

Food diary:
2 slices french toast w/ syrup
omelet
glass orange juice

lg. tea w/ milk & sugar

Cora's for Mother's Day lunch -
Theo veggie omlet
home fries
toast
1/2 of Christopher's banana chocolate crepe - can you believe he didn't want it? He LOVES bananas, apparently not with anything on them...
tea

XL TH tea

2 sm. chicken fajitas - whole wheat tortillas, salsa, tomato, cheddar cheese, sour cream
water

chunk of chocolate truck
small bowl vanilla ice cream w/ maple syrup

Time for fun & Diet Diary day 3

Why do the best revelations come to us in the shower? Yesterday I realized that our home life is pretty boring - I wonder if my boys think childhood is about doing what needs to get done, doing what they're told and only fun happens when they're playing Wii or with their toys on their own... Suddenly "It's a hard knock life" song from the Annie movie is playing in my head - only replace "hard knock" with "bor-ing"! For those of you not familiar with the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KOpU6YqnBY

So I've decided to step the humour factor up a notch or two around here.  Anyone have suggestions on how to achieve this - what do you do with your children to keep the mood light and make them laugh?  Life gets so busy, we often forget that our children need to laugh - heck WE ALL do - for our health! Unfortunately, I can't read "Damn You Auto Correct" clips to my children - but at least I know where to turn when I need a good laugh!


Food diary:
scrambled eggs
3 slices maple bacon
2 Eggo waffles w/ maple syrup

lg. chai black tea w/ milk & sugar

turkey sandwich w/ cheddar cheese, tomato, pickles & mayo
1 slice pizza (left-overs)
water

apple
mini-Drumstick ice cream (my youngest didn't want his after I opened it.. what was I to do!?)
XL TH tea w/milk & 2 sugar

BBQ cheeseburger w/ ketchup, mustard, pickle, tomato
garden salad w/ roasted red pepper dressing, carrot and tomato pieces
water

vanilla ice cream w/ maple syrup

Making time for exercise & Diet Diary day 2

What a fabulous morning! Went for a run after dropping my youngest off at preschool.  I'm training for a 5km race on May 28th and have been running twice a week since early April. My goal is to beat my previous best 5km time of 30:16 from 2009. I've been running with a couple girlfriends, which is great, but find our schedules are getting harder to sync up - much to my surprise, I'm still making the effort and getting out on my own.  This is a very new feeling for me - if you've read any of my old blog entries, you'll know I prefer team sports and group running precisely because I was never good at getting myself to do things when others weren't there to keep me accountable/expecting me to show up.

I know part of that motivation is coming from the race and my goal time I want to beat. So I have a question to any of you experienced runners - do you think it would be possible to be ready for a 1/2 marathon by mid-October, based on my current ability to run just over 5km?  How much training commitment would that require, per week? With baseball and soccer season about to begin, I don't realistically see me getting more than 2 runs in a week...  Is it possible or would I just be setting myself up for disappointment?  I ran 10km last May, so I know I have it in me... And would be happy to have a goal of only 10km by mid-October, except the race event I have in mind only has 5km, 1/2 or full marathon distances, unfortunately...

Food diary:
glass water
(after 11am due to run & shower) bowl Life cereal w/milk
XL TH tea w/milk & 2 sugar

large portion of leftovers - chicken, rice, broccoli & green peppers
XL TH tea w/milk & 2 sugar
water

Chunk of chocolate truck (Easter treats...)
water

2 slices pizza (McCain's Deluxe)

That's it for today - I'm going out with friends tonight, not going to keep track of what I have and will be too late when I get home to enter anyway!

The start of something great!

Yesterday was my birthday - what better time to start to take my health and weight issue seriously!? I'm not brave enough to post a photo of myself, but this image is a pretty accurate representation of my current mid-section... This is the heaviest I've EVER been, even heavier than at the end of my first pregnancy, only this time there's no 8lb 14oz baby to birth! Not at all happy about it and I'm ready to take some concrete steps to change that. I'm going to make gradual changes so I don't feel overwhelmed and give up. So, first step will be to update this blog at least once a week with how I'm feeling/doing with the process, and daily with my food diary so I keep being accountable. I'm on the computer for all of my free minutes anyway, so I figure this is the easiest place to keep track, plus you're there to keep me accountable, right?

GOAL:

BMI = 25 (healthy)

Weight = 70kg  (I keep it in kg because that's how Wii FitPlus measures, and it's a much smaller number! :-)

Each week I plan to log my BMI and weight according to my morning Wii Fit Plus Body Test. Here are today's results - the STARTING point, only to go down from here!

Stats: 

BMI = 28.86
Weight = 83.4 kg

And for this first week, simply record my dietary intake - I'm not looking for suggestions, yet - just want to keep myself accountable and I know from experience that simply writing down what I ingest makes me so much more conscious about what I put in my mouth! It's a great start.  Each week I'll focus on making one small change, setting a mini-goal like drinking more water, eating more fruits & veggies, smaller portion sizes, etc.

Food diary:
bowl brown sugar frosted mini-wheats with 1% milk
Med. Earl Grey tea w/ sugar and milk

XL Tim Horton's tea w/milk & 2 sugar
grilled cheese sandwich
bowl tomato soup
5 mini-carrots
1/4 choc. chip cookie

apple
vanilla yogurt
Kinder chocolate egg

lg. water
banana (wanted something much sweeter/bad for me, but I resisted!)

steak
mushrooms and garlic sauted in butter
spinach
long-grain rice

water
Drumstick ice-cream

my competitive side came out tonight...

(originally drafted on Jan 18, 2010) 
Is it wrong to be only slightly happy for someone getting their best time at swimming when it meant they beat you for the first time ever? I feel conflicted. One of the other participants in my swimming class has always been quite a bit slower than all the rest of us. He's out trying his hardest and that's great in itself. I'm not trying to sound pompous or 'better' than him, but you kind of get used to the person that always needs their own half of the lane because they're slower.

Well, tonight I was paired up with him for our beginning of the winter session time-trials (serves me right since I haven't swam in over a month!). The first 3 x 100m sets I beat him no problem, even though I was clocking in at some of my worst times yet. (At this point I'm just blaming everything on my planters wart...) Then we had 3 x 50m sets. The second 50m he decides to literally give it his all and beat me by 4 or 5 seconds! I couldn't believe it. I saw him pull ahead and I didn't have an ounce of umph left to even catch up... Maybe I was slacking because he hadn't been that much of a challenge.

Our coach was so excited for him, understandably, and he was excited, as I would have been if it had been me! - but I could barely muster a 'great job'. Is that bad? I was feeling so defeated - but I tell ya, I was hell-bent on whopping his butt on our last 50m sprint!! I guess that's the up side to competition, it's the driving force behind improvement. I'm happy to report our last 50m sprint I was able to beat my fellow swimmer, and he even did BETTER than his time before! That time I was full of praise for him and secretly smiling for me.

oh for the love of sugar!

I've been trying to cut out sugar for years, on the advice of my ND (and my own common sense - if you saw my daily intake, you would wonder how I still have teeth...). This year I've gotten off to a pretty good start, thanks to the all-natural, calorie-free Stevia sweetener. If you've never heard of it, you're not alone. I hadn't heard of it before either.

Now, there are quite a few options out there, surprisingly enough, and like anything new to your palette, they can take a bit of getting used to. (Have you ever tried switching to soy milk?) Hence the reason I've been so slow to kick the sugar addiction... But I'm happy to report I found a fabulous Stevia sweetener and have even been using it in my Timmy's tea! It's called French Vanilla Stevia Extract Blend by Herbal Select (it has natural french vanilla flavour). It comes in convenient packets equivalent to 2 tsp. of sugar (perfect since that's how much I used to add to my tea) and I can carry them in my purse.

trying to understand...

Today I was thinking about how my clothes don't fit me well and what I'm going to do about it. Then I started thinking - how come some people get seriously obese? I started wondering what is the thought process that prevents them from making changes to prevent further weight gain? Just trying to understand. Everyone must notice when their clothes don't fit, even if they never step on a scale. Maybe if those initial thoughts, whatever they may or may not be, were recorded, captured in some way, when people are young, perhaps that could be the beginning of a true fight against this seemingly overwhelming epidemic of obesity. I know when I gain weight, like recently, and all my clothes stop fitting, or become too tight, I look to see what I need to change and do something about it. It takes me 15-20lbs of gain before I do, but I still do something before it gets out of control.

Why do some people do like I do and change, albeit begrudgingly; and what stops, or doesn't 'trigger' for others? Is it a natural part of each person's development, or are there experiential factors at play? Can it really be just pure laziness, as so many people assume when they view an obese person? (Admit it, you've thought it, even if you're overweight, too!)